Bodyguard (Shifters Unbound #2.5) (2 page)

"You mean he hit a human who was about to
kill me," Elizabeth said heatedly. "If Ronan hadn't been here, I'd
be dead."

The officer shrugged. "If you want to come
down and plead his case to the judge, it's your choice. But I have
to take him."

Ronan saw indecision flicker in Elizabeth
Chapman's eyes. This wasn't her fight. She wanted to go home and
forget about the robbery as best she could. Ronan wasn't sure what
human females did to make themselves feel better, but the cub,
Cherie, who lived in his house, liked to take baths that lasted
forever whenever she was stressed. Which was often, considering
what she'd gone through.

Ronan's fantasies went to Elizabeth in a
bathtub, her curved body covered with suds, her black hair wet. He
bet she looked cute with her hair all damp and spiky.

The cop clicked the cuffs onto Ronan's wrists
behind his back, and the pleasant vision dissolved as he felt the
sting of Fae magic. Even the small bite of it ground through his
nerves and tried to set off a spark from his Collar. Elizabeth
looked concerned as he winced, but Ronan shook his head at her.

"Don't worry about me, Lizzie-girl. But do me
a favor. Find a lawyer called Kim Fraser--she's mated to Liam
Morrissey in Shiftertown, and they live next door to Glory. I know
you know Glory--she comes in here all the time. Tell Kim what
happened for me?"

Kim, a human, had set up a law office that
specialized in helping Shifters. Because human laws governing
Shifters were restrictive and complex, Shifters needed all the help
they could get.

"All right?" Ronan repeated, looking hard at
Elizabeth. "Tell her?"

Elizabeth pressed her slim hands together and
held them a little under her chin. Human body language for
I
don't know what the right thing is to do here.

"You can call her if you don't want to go to
Shiftertown," Ronan said. "Her card's in my front pocket."

Ronan's hands were locked behind his back and
staying there. Elizabeth took a step forward. The female cop didn't
say or do anything, just watched, ready to take down both of them
if they tried anything stupid.

Elizabeth's hair smelled good. So did the
rest of her. Ronan scented Elizabeth's residual fear from the
robbery, overlaid with the warm goodness of her, and behind that,
concern for someone else. Layers of scent that told him all about
her.

He liked how she'd put the red streaks in her
hair. Defiance--that's what it meant. Elizabeth seemed like a good
businesswoman, following the rules, but those little streaks said
she could be bad if she wanted to be. Or maybe they were a reminder
of a time when she hadn't walked the straight and narrow. Ronan
thought he wouldn't mind a glimpse of the bad-ass Elizabeth.

Elizabeth dipped her fingers into Ronan's
front pocket. She did it quickly and competently, not touching
Ronan at all as she plucked out Kim's business card. The move was
practiced, as though she'd gotten good at taking things out of
people's pockets.
Skill
was the word. Interesting.

"I'll call her," Elizabeth said, palming the
card. "But I'm coming down to the station with you," she said to
the cop. "He helped me, and it's not fair he's getting arrested
when some gang kid tried to kill me."

The female cop shrugged. "Suit yourself. Come
on, Shifter."

Ronan winked as the cop took his arm in a
practiced grip and shoved him out the door. "I like you, human
woman," he said to Elizabeth. "See you downtown."

*** *** ***

Elizabeth called Mabel, reassuring her sister
that everything was all right, then reached Kim Fraser on the phone
and told her what had happened. Elizabeth drove her small pickup
downtown, following the cops to the jail and courthouse. She found
it ironic that she had to leave her truck in a crappy lot with a
sign saying
Park
at your own risk,
while the arrests
for the night were taken safely around to the front door.

Inside the station, Elizabeth gave her
official statement to the female cop, then was told to stay in the
waiting room until someone came to take her to Ronan's hearing. She
hadn't thought the hearing would be tonight, not this late, but
apparently Shifter Division processed Shifters as swiftly as
possible.

So Elizabeth waited. Around her, arrests for
the night were brought in, anything from indecent exposure to grand
theft auto to assault with a deadly weapon. This was the heart of
Texas, in a well-populated county, and the arrestees ranged from
men with shaggy hair, baseball caps, and strong South Texas
accents; to Spanish-speaking kids who glared in fearful defiance;
to brightly dressed prostitutes with hair of every shade and shorts
cut high up their butts.

Elizabeth had never been in this particular
police station, but they all gave her the creeps. The smell was the
same--burned coffee, body odor, and floor cleaner overlaid with
stale cigarette smoke. Smoking was no longer permitted inside, but
the smoke clung to the clothes of people who went in and out.

Never again, she'd vowed. For Mabel's sake.
Elizabeth had half-feared that the female cop would run a check on
Elizabeth's name, but then, even if she had, the woman would have
found nothing. Elizabeth Chapman had no criminal record, and no
connection to anyone with a criminal record. Elizabeth had made
sure of that.

After a long time, a tall black bailiff
stopped in front of Elizabeth and said in a booming voice, "Ms.
Chapman? Come with me."

Elizabeth sprang up and followed the man,
half-running to keep up with his long-legged stride. "Where are we
going?"

"The Shifter's hearing," was all he would
say.

The bailiff led Elizabeth through a door and
down a hall that was eerily deserted. At the end of this, he
unbolted and unlocked a steel door that had to be a foot thick. He
took Elizabeth into a short hall, maybe five feet in length, which
had no other door but the one at its far end.

Why was Elizabeth reminded of zoo cages? The
kind with two doors and a space in between, where an animal could
be trapped if it tried to escape. The bailiff unlocked the second
door, also of foot-thick steel, and ushered Elizabeth into a long,
narrow courtroom.

It was a courtroom unlike any Elizabeth had
seen, and unfortunately she'd seen quite a few during her colorful
adolescence. The judge's bench, at the far end, was raised six feet
off the floor and caged in front by floor-to-ceiling iron bars. A
woman in judge's robes was just coming through a door right behind
the bench. Bench, door, and judge were unreachable by anyone on the
courtroom floor.

Ronan sat in a large metal chair below the
bench, at a right angle to the rest of the room. His hands were now
shackled in front of him; a chain between the shackles hooked them
to a ring on the heavy chair, which in turn was bolted to the
floor.

The courtroom was unadorned, no paneling on
the walls, no heavy wooden tables or carved benches, just a generic
linoleum floor, white walls, and two plain metal benches in the
front of the room. A nervous man in a suit, probably the
prosecutor, occupied the right bench. A man and woman sat together
on the bench on the left.

The woman was human, with short dark hair, a
business jacket and skirt, and a briefcase. Her buttoned-up look
screamed lawyer, though she wore sandals on bare feet instead of
hose and shoes.

The man next to her was a Shifter, no doubt
about it. He had dark hair, eyes of incredible blue, and a Collar
around his neck. He lounged on the bench, watching everyone in the
room, including the judge, with an air of command.

Most people believed that Shifters posed a
threat to humans, and looking at this man, Elizabeth finally
understood why. Ronan was huge and full of muscle, but this
Shifter, while nowhere near as big as Ronan, exuded a strength of
presence that spoke of power. No matter that he wore a Collar, he
could be deadly, and he wanted everyone around him to remember
that.

Ronan saw Elizabeth and lifted his shackled
hands in greeting. He looked the calmest of anyone in the room, no
matter that they were treating him like a dangerous animal.

Granted, Elizabeth had seen Ronan as a big,
scary bear, and even now, with his buzzed hair, glittering eyes,
and muscles bulging out the
Red
-Hot Lover
T-shirt, he
still looked frightening. But he gave her a nod--in thanks, she
guessed, for calling Kim and then showing up herself.

The tall bailiff locked the door, the clang
of the keys loud. The judge hammered once with her gavel. "Counsels
approach the bench."

That was it. No one else apparently would
show up to this hearing, no court stenographer, no other witnesses.
Maybe the session was being recorded, but what did Elizabeth know?
Perhaps records weren't kept of Shifter hearings.

As Kim rose with the prosecutor and walked
confidently toward the judge, the bailiff said to Elizabeth, "Sit
over there."

He pointed to the seat next to Kim's Shifter.
The Shifter sat up from his lounging position, smiled, and patted
the bench next to him. The smile was charming, but it was also
predatory, and his eyes were watching, watching. Ronan caught
Elizabeth's worried look and sent her another nod.

Elizabeth went to the bench. The Shifter
rose, though both judge and bailiff scowled at him, and stuck out
his hand. "I'm Liam Morrissey," he said. "You're Elizabeth?"

"Elizabeth Chapman. I called your wife."

"She's my mate." Liam closed his right hand
around Elizabeth's and then laid his left hand on top of it,
sandwiching her fingers in a cushion of warmth. Liam Morrissey was
the leader of the Austin Shiftertown, Elizabeth knew. He and his
wife--no,
mate
--Kim, were the liaisons between Shifters and
humans. "No worries, lass," Liam said. "You answer the judge's
questions and tell the truth. Kim will take care of the rest."

The pressure of his hands on hers and the
confident look in his eyes, together with the Irish lilt to his
voice, were soothing and reassuring. Elizabeth found herself
nodding, wanting to promise she'd do her best.

Ronan said from across the room, "You can let
go of her now, Liam."

Liam's smile widened but he released
Elizabeth. "I'm thinking you're growing a mite possessive, my
friend," he said to Ronan.

"I'm thinking she's had a bad night," Ronan
growled. "That and I can break your head with one hand."

"Shut it, Bear. I'm mate-bonded. You have no
competition from me."

The judge pounded with her gavel. "The
defendant will stay in order," she said sharply. Both Ronan and
Liam went quiet but neither looked contrite.

The
Shifters are in charge
here,
Elizabeth realized.
Not
the judge, not the
bailiff, not the prosecutor. Liam and Ronan might be inside the
cage, but they've taken it over.

"The defendant will approach," the judge
said.

The bailiff unlocked Ronan's shackles from
the chair, helped him stand, and led him forward. Kim came to
Ronan's side, not looking worried, though the prosecutor kept his
eyes on his notes as Ronan hulked next to him.

"The charge is assault with intent to kill a
human," the judge said. She had dark hair going to gray, a face
like a squashed prune, and a flat voice. "How does the defendant
plead?"

"He pleads mitigating circumstances," Kim
said. "And intent to kill is not on the arrest sheet. The human in
question was armed with a loaded nine-millimeter pistol. My client
was defending the owner of the store the human man had come to rob
and was shot by the human in the process."

The judge eyed Kim in dislike. "I asked for
the plea, not the defense. You'll have the chance to speak in a
moment. Prosecution?"

The prosecutor finally looked up from his
file folder. "The victim, Julio Marquez, is at the hospital being
treated for claw wounds. Mr. Marquez describes being attacked by a
bear in Ms. Chapman's shop on South Congress. In fear for his life,
Mr. Marquez shot but missed. The bear then struck Mr. Marquez
again, rendering him unconscious. According to Mr. Marquez, he
entered the store on a dare by his friends and waved around his
gun. The bear attacked from the back of the store. Mr. Marquez did
not see him before that."

Elizabeth jumped to her feet. "That's not
what happened!" A dare by his friends? No way in hell. Elizabeth
had looked into the cold, hard eyes of the kid, which had held an
anger too old for his age. She'd recognized that anger. Julio
Marquez was a dangerous young man.

The judge banged her gavel. "Ms. Chapman, sit
down, or you will be fined for contempt."

The prosecutor leafed through his file. "Mr.
Marquez's statement and Ms. Chapman's are not exactly the same, but
both agree that the bear attacked Mr. Marquez."

"Because Marquez was forcing me into my
office at gunpoint!" Elizabeth cried.

Another steely glare from the judge. "You
will be called to give your version of events in due time, Ms.
Chapman. Sit
down
."

"Best sit down, love," Liam whispered. "Kim
will take care of it."

He sounded confident. Elizabeth sank to the
bench, and Liam nodded at her.
Good
girl.
Ronan sent
her another reassuring look over his shoulder.

Even Kim seemed unperturbed. "The witness is
understandably stressed, Your Honor," she said. "It's late, and
she's had a bad experience."

The judge really didn't like Kim Fraser. For
defending a Shifter? Elizabeth wondered. Or for marrying one?

The prosecutor broke in. "Maybe Ms. Chapman
should be allowed to give her evidence so she can go home."

The judge's face softened as she listened to
the prosecutor. The man was attractive in a slick sort of way . . .
what
a witch.